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Some light on Nancy Henderson Dove Mills.

I’ve written before about Nancy Henderson Dove, who I believe was the sister of my great-great-great-great-grandmother Patsey Henderson. Last night, I happened upon another reference to Nancy in the February 1871 will of her last husband, London Mills.

In the first item, Mills devises to his “beloved wife, Nancy Mills (formerly Nancy Henderson and then Nancy Dove)” a life estate in most of his property. If only everyone had been so precise in identifying their legatees.

Mills’ estate file yields a 6 March 1872 account statement from C.G. Cox for medical services throughout 1871, including, on 15 May 1871 “One visit to wife & adjusting thigh fracture,” a brutal injury for anyone then or now, but especially a woman who was perhaps 70 years old at the time. Cox treated Nancy twice more in the next six weeks, then provided medical attention to someone named Eliza, and finally to London himself for a fever near the end of July. Nancy survived her injury, as she appears in the account of the sale of London’s property on 24 February 1872, purchasing two sheep and some geese.

In the 1870 census of Richlands township, Onslow County: Lunen Mills, 80, farmer; wife Nancy, 65; and Eliza Mills, 13; Jesse White, 21; Wiley Dove, 18; Lucy Bowen, 84; and Gatsey Dove, 44. Next door: farm laborer Lewis Mills, 36; wife Minerva, 45; and children Caroline, 8, William, 6, and Henry, 4.

Eliza Mills was the Eliza named in the medical bill, as well as the “Eliza White (daughter of Manerva Mills)” named in London Mills’ will. Manerva Mills and Jesse White, son of Manerva Mills are also legatees.

Minerva was Minerva Dove, daughter of Nancy Henderson and [presumed] Simon Dove. Lewis Mills was her second husband. Her daughter Caroline lived long enough to be memorialized in a death certificate: Caroline Manervie Canady died — June 1942 in Richland, Onslow County. Per her death certificate, she was born 26 December 1861 in Onslow County to Louis Mills and Manervie Dove and was the widow of Louis H. Canady.

In the 1880 census of Richlands township, Onslow County, Nancy Henderson Dove Mills’ descendants lived in a cluster around her. In household #375, eldest son Durant Dove, 75; wife Rosanna, 35; and children Phillis, 19, Elizabeth, 17, Jonas, 3, James W., 1, and George R.H., 1 month. In #376, Nancy Henderson, 90, knitting, and daughter Gatsey Dove, 60. In #377, Lewis Mills, 47; wife Mernervia, 55; [her] daughter Elisa Henderson, 21; their children Caroline, 18, Edward F., 17, Lucy, 15, and Hastenquickly, 14; plus Eliza’s son David J. Henderson, 3. In #378, Durant Dove’s son Lewis Dove, 46; wife Polly A., 35; and son George Savage, 9.

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Births Deaths Marriages, Paternal Kin, Photographs

Gold.

Tonight my family celebrated the 50th wedding anniversaries of two of my cousins (who are brothers) and their wives. Another of their brothers and his wife, who came in from Maryland, hit 51 this year. My parents made 60 years in May. So did my uncle and aunt. I can tick off an easy dozen couples in the 25-49 year range and a couple dozen more that only death parted after decades. That this kind of abiding love is commonplace among my people is a blessing beyond measure. We hear so much about the dismal state of the Black family, but here’s the Black family I know. Here’s the Black family I love.

Cheers to you, Effenus and Helen, and Fred and Linda, and Dock and Barbara! Many more!

One of the blessed couples.

“Renewal of vows,” eldest grandson presiding.

The youngest in his first hard-bottoms. (Stacy Adams!) He said he felt like a gentleman.

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Paternal Kin, Photographs

Happy birthday, R.C. Henderson!

Today is my father’s 86th birthday, and I’m grateful to be able to spend it with him. He was a storied high school basketball coach in North Carolina and played the game in high school, college, and the Air Force. Here, as a center on Saint Augustine’s College’s team, he takes a jumper over future Globetrotter Curley Neal.

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Births Deaths Marriages, North Carolina, Paternal Kin, Photographs

Remembering Reginald Henderson on his birthday.

In June of this year, the Henderson family lost an extra-special cousin to COVID-19. Today would have been Reginald J. Henderson Sr.‘s 76th birthday. By happenstance, I ran across his high school yearbook online today and found his senior portrait.

We miss you, Cousin Reggie!

The Tiger (1962), G.W. Carver High School, Mount Olive, N.C., digitized at DigitalNC.

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Paternal Kin, Photographs

Happy 100th birthday, Cousin Onra!

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Cousin Onra at the 2018 Henderson Family Reunion, Atlanta.

Onra Henderson Camp Dillard, my grandmother’s paternal first cousin, turns one hundred today. She had long wanted to celebrate in Dudley, North Carolina, her hometown, but recent health challenges and this pandemic wouldn’t allow it. We did the best thing under the circumstances, however, and gathered virtually via Zoom to honor the oldest living member of our Henderson Clan.

It was beautiful, tech glitches and all. It’s Cousin Onra’s birthday, and it’s Mother Day weekend, and COVID-19 has kept apart even those of us who live in the same cities, so how could seeing all those little boxes filled with loving faces not have been great? There were songs and prayers and praises, and the thrill of seeing Cousin Onra laugh and, even now, in that rich voice we know so well, say a few words.

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WHEREAS, on the occasion of her centennial  birthday, the Henderson family wishes to recognize and honor our matriarch Onra Henderson Camp Dillard; and

WHEREAS, Onra Luevicey Henderson was born May 9, 1920, in Dudley, North Carolina, to Henry Lee Henderson and Christine Lenora Aldridge Henderson; and

WHEREAS, Onra Henderson Dillard is the second child and eldest daughter of eight children and is much treasured by brother Kenneth Avon Henderson and sister Mona Faye Henderson Sutton; and

WHEREAS, Onra Henderson Dillard as a young child joined First Congregational United Church of Christ in Dudley, a church founded by her ancestors; and

WHEREAS, Onra Henderson Dillard was educated in the public schools of Wayne County, graduating Dillard High School, after which she attended finishing school at historic Palmer Memorial Institute near Greensboro, North Carolina; and

WHEREAS, Onra Henderson married William Homer Camp on December 31, 1938, in Raleigh, North Carolina, and to this union was born a son, William Homer Camp Jr.; and

WHEREAS, in 1940 Onra and Homer Camp joined the Great Migration to settle in Washington, D.C., soon purchasing the home on Seventh Street S.E., in which she still resides; and

WHEREAS, Onra Camp married Jackson Dillard on October 19, 1945, in Washington, D.C.; and

WHEREAS, Onra Henderson Dillard supported the nation’s war efforts through employment at the Department of the Navy, and continued her career in the Navy Department as a supply officer for more than thirty years; and

WHEREAS, in the early 1940s, Onra Henderson Dillard joined People’s Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C., beginning a lifelong commitment to Christ-centered service that included positions as president of the Evangelism and Outreach Committee and the April/May Birth-Month Club; membership on search committees for senior and associate pastors; member and secretary of the Board of Trustees; chairwoman of the confirmation committee; confirmation class teacher; deacon; chair of the repast committee for funerals; membership in the Wednesday Prayer Group, the Senior Leisure Group, and the Music Aid Circle; and singing in two choirs; and

WHEREAS, moreover, Onra Henderson Dillard has a distinguished record of service within the Congregationalist UCC denomination, including its Potomac Association and Central Atlantic Conference, and has represented the UCC with the Interfaith Conference in Washington, DC; and

WHEREAS, Onra Henderson Dillard has been an activist on behalf of her Capitol Hill community, by, as a member of the Community Council, helping to stop construction that would have displaced many families and to establish 31 libraries in elementary schools, and using her paralegal training to provide volunteer services, including consumer counseling workshops, for the Council for the Elderly for many years; and

WHEREAS, Onra Henderson Dillard is a loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother, sister, aunt, and cousin to many who cherish and revere her; and

WHEREAS, beloved by her family and friends, Onra Henderson Dillard has lived a long and productive life setting an example of service to all; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Henderson Family that we commend and honor Onra Henderson Dillard for her lifetime of commitment to her family, church, and community and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, that the Henderson Family prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Onra Henderson Dillard as an expression of the family’s love and best wishes on this, her 100th birthday.

This 9th day of May, 2020,

The Henderson Family

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Cousin Onra, my grandmother, me, and Cousin Evelyn at a family reunion in the early 1990s.

 

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DNA

DNA Definites, no. 26.

I couldn’t sleep; I hadn’t adjusted to the night sounds of Guatemala City. So I logged into Ancestry.com, and:

  • T.L., who is a known third cousin. The match is actually with his sibling K.L., who provided a sample in lieu. (Predictably, Ancestry underestimates our match at 11.9 cM — 5th to 8th cousins. He shares 17 cM with G.W. and 47 with K.J., who are his third cousins and my second.) His great-grandmother Emma McNeely Houser, and mine, Carrie McNeely Colvert, were sisters. He’s my first McNeely match who is not also a Colvert, so I’m hoping our common matches will shed light on that line.
  • W.H., my known half-third cousin. His great-grandmother, Lillie Barfield Holmes, and mine, Bessie Henderson, were both daughters of J. Buckner Martin. W.H. matches siblings J.E. (94 cM), L.H. (105 cM) and M.C. (23.6 cM), who are grandchildren of Bessie’s full brother Jack Henderson. (They’re W.H.’s half-second cousins once removed.) These are especially satisfying matches as I have been frustrated and mystified by our failures to register matches with descendants of Aunt Lillie’s brother. W.H. and I aren’t Ancestry matches, but we’ll see what Gedmatch says.
  • I was shocked speechless by a match with F.W., whose tree shows her to be a descendant of Durant Dove. Durant Henderson, alias Dove, was the son of Nancy Henderson Dove, whom I believe to have been the sister of my great-great-great-great-great-grandmother, Patsey Henderson. But at 32 cM?? That fourth cousin-range number is much higher than I would expect with a fifth cousin second removed. F.W. has a second Henderson-Dove line, but I’m not sure that’s enough to account for the extra.
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